CH 65

After Zheng Li put the rice in the pot, she sat in front of it, staring at the fire absentmindedly.

They were a group of six people who had been rescued. Apart from that  Bai Miaqing and her father, the remaining four of them now huddled together to have a meal.

Therefore, she had to cook for one more man she did not know, the other one is a member of their family.

She snapped out of her thoughts and glanced in the direction of Bai Miaqing.

Bai Miaqing’s father, Dr. Baiwu, was helping her cook.

In contrast, Zheng Li’s own situation was not good. Because she failed to stop the bandits from killing her younger brother as a reward for their comrades, her father scolded and beat her after being rescued. Her life was worse than serving those people in the bandit’s stronghold.

Zheng Li looked at the harmonious scene between the father and daughter in the Bai family, and suddenly felt a sting in her eyes.

Since being captured by the bandits, she had not been so exhausted for a long time. All she needed to do was to serve those men well, and she did not have to do anything else.

She rubbed her sore legs and her gaze was drawn to the Shen family’s ox cart, which had been trailing behind all day.

If she could ride on the ox cart, she would definitely not be so tired.

However, how could she get to ride on the ox cart?

She looked at Shen Dalang and Shen Erlang as if she were picking and choosing goods.

Finally, Zheng Li locked her gaze onto Shen Erlang and her eyes became resolute. A thought slowly formed in her mind.

‘If she could marry into that household, she would naturally be able to ride on the ox cart without having to walk. And there would be several carts of grain…’

…

After dinner, Shen Yu’an, who was planning to use her mental power to investigate the condition of Xiao Zhang’s baby, suddenly heard a commotion nearby.

She stopped her actions and listened carefully. It sounded like a man and a woman arguing.

However, the direction from which the sound came was a bit far away, and she couldn’t hear clearly what they were saying.

And that gentle voice, why did it sound so much like the doctor’s daughter?

Shen Yu’an looked towards the direction of the father and daughter in confusion, but only saw the doctor sitting there. He didn’t know where his daughter had gone.

She stood up and followed the sound.

“Move aside, I want to go back.” A gentle voice with a hint of anger said.

“Don’t be angry, can you think about what I said?” said another slightly frivolous voice.

Shen Yu’an recognized the woman’s voice, but she didn’t recognize the man’s voice. She only felt a bit familiar, since she wasn’t very familiar with the villagers.

Then, the woman’s voice came again, “There’s nothing to think about.”

“Hmph, my father is the head of the village, if you two want to follow our village’s team, then just agree to what I said and behave yourselves. Otherwise, I have ways to drive you out,” said the man with a cold snort.

The man continued, “Did you see the family behind us? No matter how powerful they are, if they don’t listen, we can still drive them out.”

“His father is the head of the village? Is he one of Lizheng’s sons?” Shen Yu’an wondered.

As she took a few more steps forward, two figures appeared in front of Shen Yu’an.

It turned out to be Lizheng’s fourth son, Li Si.

Although he was the youngest son, he was the same age as Shen Yun.

However, he was born with a physical defect, and no one has been willing to marry him to this day.

Shen Yu’an sneered at the thought that such a small official had learned to bully men and dominate women.

But Li Si had his back to Shen Yu’an and was unaware that his actions had already been noticed by others.

Meanwhile, Bai Miaqing caught sight of Shen Yu’an walking towards them, and for some reason, her heart suddenly calmed down.

She glanced disdainfully at Li Si and sarcastically remarked, “Ha, kick them out? I think you guys would beg for them to come back. Everyone saw your father rushing to invite that family back when they left this morning.”

“At that time, we just felt sorry for them. You really took it seriously,” Li Si retorted with a cold snort.

“If you don’t agree to become my concubine and enter my home, I’ll do something to you, and no one will know,” he threatened.

“What are you pretending for? You’re just a prostitute who’s been touched by countless men in that bandit den. Allowing you to become my concubine is already a show of mercy,” he retorted.

Bai Miaqing had a gentle and pleasant appearance, but as they had returned when it was already dark yesterday, he hadn’t seen her clearly.

This morning, when he saw her again, he remembered the precedent of Wang Zhicai in the village who had brought a woman home as his concubine, and he immediately had an idea.

However, he had not found a suitable opportunity to make his move.

Just now, he saw Bai Miaqing walking out of the crowd, so he followed her immediately.

But to his surprise, she dared to look down on him.

Li Si’s gaze turned cold. Since no one was willing to marry him, this woman must be like the others, repulsed by his ugly appearance.

Years of accumulated resentment erupted in Li Si as he faced yet another rejection from Bai Miaqing.

He raised his large palm, as if he had accumulated all his resentment from these years in this one slap, and ruthlessly struck Bai Miaqing in front of him.

However, the expected sound of the slap did not come. Li Si’s wrist was firmly grabbed from behind by someone.

Shen Yu’an said, “So you actually begged us to come back out of pity. Your father’s way of begging is really pathetic~ I will tell the village leader exactly what you just said.”

Her words sounded light and breezy, but they were particularly terrifying to Li Si’s ears.

He knew that his father had always regretted driving the Shen family out of the village. Even the old lady Wu, who had always been causing trouble, got a slap from his father to vent his anger.

If his father knew that he had said such things and that the Shen family had heard them, he would definitely beat him too.

He knew how powerful this seemingly gentle and weak girl was, so he quickly surrendered.

“I didn’t mean that, I was wrong. I was wrong. Don’t tell my dad,” stammered Li Si.

Shen Yu’an flung her hand out and patted it as if she had touched something dirty.

“Get out!”

“Okay, okay, I’m leaving.” Li Si quickly turned around and ran, trying to put some distance between himself and the female devil, Shen Yu’an.

As a result, Li Si didn’t notice the thing under his feet and was tripped by a dry tree branch. He rolled on the ground twice, ignoring the pain and quickly got up and ran.

Shen Yu’an and Bai Miaqing looked at each other and both burst into laughter.

“This guy really does what he says. When he says he’s leaving, he really does roll away,” Shen Yu’an remarked.

Bai Miaqing calmed herself down and bowed to Shen Yu’an, saying, “Thank you, Miss Shen, for your help. By the way, my name is Bai Miaqing. What’s your name?”

Shen Yu’an looked at the girl in front of her, who was smiling, and noticed that every move she made showed that she was not an ordinary girl from a small family.

But it was precisely this kind of beautiful girl who suffered inhuman treatment at the hands of the bandits.

Shen Yu’an couldn’t help but admire Bai Miaqing’s mindset. Many girls would have felt completely hopeless after experiencing such treatment, especially in the ancient times where women were often discriminated against.

Smiling, she answered Bai Miaqing’s question, “Hello, my name is Shen Yu’an.”